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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Phys.
Sec. Medical Physics and Imaging
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphy.2024.1511830
This article is part of the Research Topic Challenges in VHEE Radiotherapy View all 7 articles

Standard Requirements for clinical Very High Energy Electron and Ultra High Dose Rate Medical Devices

Provisionally accepted

    The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

      Very High-Energy Electrons (VHEE) present a promising innovation in radiation therapy (RT), particularly for the treatment of deep-seated tumors using Ultra High Dose Rate (UHDR) within the framework of FLASH-RT. VHEE offers significant advantages, such as improved tumor targeting, reduced treatment times, and potential utilization of the FLASH effect, which may minimize normal tissue toxicity. However, the lack of an international technical standard for VHEE systems, especially for UHDR applications, remains a critical challenge.Current standards for radiation therapy equipment, such as IEC 60601-2-1 and IEC 60601-2-64, do not encompass VHEE technology. This regulatory gap underscores the need for developing a structured international standard to ensure the basic safety and essential performance of VHEE medical devices. Addressing this challenge requires overcoming complex dose delivery issues, such as the interaction of multiple fields and beam conformality and incorporating novel techniques like broad beam or pencil beam scanning.Establishing comprehensive regulatory standards is essential to ensure patient safety, consistent treatment practices, and the successful clinical integration of VHEE systems. These standards must encompass design guidelines, radiation protection protocols, and integration with existing oncology practices. Collaborative research and development efforts are crucial to formulating evidence-based guidelines, fostering the safe and effective use of VHEE in clinical settings. By addressing these challenges, VHEE technology has the potential to revolutionize cancer therapy, particularly for deep-seated tumors, while enhancing therapeutic outcomes for patients.

      Keywords: VHEE radiotherapy, FLASH radiotherapy, UHDR, Regulatory standards, IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)

      Received: 15 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

      Copyright: © 2024 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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